Domestic Politics
Tunisian Prime Minister-designate Elyes Fakhfakh finally named a new coalition government upon reaching an agreement with the moderate Islamist Ennahda Movement party. This ends a four months-long political crisis in the country. The proposed government is likely to win the Parliament’s confidence vote, avoiding an early election. [Reuters]
The Presidential Council of Libya’s Government of National Accord suspended its participation in the UN-led Geneva ceasefire talks following a bombing by Khalifa Haftar’s militia at the Tripoli seaport which killed three people. The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has strongly condemned the attack and has expressed its hope for the two parties to deescalate tensions and return to the dialogue table. [Middle East Eye]
Six Yemeni soldiers in a convoy carrying Muhammad Al Maqdashi, the country’s Defence Minister, died when the vehicle was hit by a land mine explosion. Government sources say that the Minister, who was visiting the Houthi-controlled frontline area of Sirwah, was left unharmed. [Arab News]
International Relations
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Riyadh to enter high-level talks with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Pompeo plans to raise American concerns over the Kingdom’s human rights abuses, especially in the case of Walid Fitaihi, a Saudi-American doctor who was arrested during the Kingdom’s anti-corruption purge. Fitaihi is prohibited from leaving the country while he stands trial. [Al Jazeera]
Following the failure of dialogue with Russia on the matter, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday announced that it is “only a matter of time” until Turkish forces launch a military operation to Syria’s Idlib province. Addressing his party’s parliamentary group, Erdogan stated that as with Turkey’s previous operations into Syria since 2016, it is possible that “we could suddenly come one night”. [Middle East Monitor]
Law
On Tuesday, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, announced that she met with Mohammad Shtayyeh, Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, at the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. The ICC Pretrial Chamber has received briefs from over 40 states and NGOs regarding the determined statehood of Palestine and whether it can subsequently file a criminal probe for war-crimes against Israel in the ICC. [Jerusalem Post]
Health
Iran on Wednesday reported its first coronavirus fatalities when two elderly people died after testing positive for the virus. The deceased were from the city of Qom, south of the country’s capital Tehran. [Al Jazeera]
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi’s Energy Minister, reportedly described the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the oil industry as equal to a burning house in a Riyadh audience on Wednesday. According to the International Energy Agency, Chinese refineries are producing 25% less oil than last year since the virus has reduced economic and travel activity in the country. This is projected to lead to a decline in world oil consumption this quarter, the first slump in over a decade. [Arabian Business]
Image Source: Washington Post